Chicago, Ill.- June 23- What was supposed to be their fifth matchup this season left this game to be highly anticipated after multiple cancellations. 

The MCL Minutemen (3-11) and the Northwest Indiana Oilmen (9-4) finally took to the field after two straight games being rained out. What started as a pitchers duel and one, two, three innings quickly turned into a hit parade that the Minutemen found themselves on the other side of in the 10-1 loss. 

The Minutemen were only able to manufacture one run the whole game. Jorge Santos (South Suburban/ Homewood, Ill.) started things off in the sixth inning with a triple into center field. Brennan Brogni (Illinois Springfield/ Flagstaff, Ariz.) grounded out to first, allowing Santos to put the Minutemen on the board. Manager Deandre Gilmore liked the way the team played despite, but believes they need to clean it up.

“For a seven inning game, it wasn’t bad baseball. We made some errors that we should’ve made plays on which would’ve made the game a little closer. It happens and it’s a part of the game. We just have to be better for next time,” Gilmore said.

Although many runs were allowed, Gilmore liked the way the pitchers were pitching. Doug Loden (Joliet JC/ St. John, Ind.) threw 10 strikeouts, and Nic Vitiritti (Carthage/ Lansing, Ill.) allowed only one run. 

“The pitching was fantastic. As long as you’re at the plate and around the zone, you’ll always give your team a chance to stay in the game and at least be competitive,” Gilmore said.

The Minutemen have now lost eight games in a row, but will get the chance tomorrow to turn it around against  the Joliet Generals for the second time this season at Prairie State College at 5:05 pm. Follow @MclMinutemen on Twitter to keep up with all the latest Minutemen news and updates, and follow @MCLMinutemen on Facebook to catch the live streams of every game.